The Biden administration has approved a massive Willow oil drilling project in Alaska, angering climate advocates and setting the stage for a court challenge.
The Willow Project is a decade-old oil drilling venture in the National Petroleum Reserve, owned by the federal government. The area where the project is planned holds up to 600 million barrels of oil, although it will take years for that oil to reach the market as the project is still under construction.
According to the administration’s own estimates, the project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year—the equivalent of adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads.
The approval is a victory for Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation and a coalition of Alaska Native tribes and groups, who hailed the drilling venture as a much-needed new source of revenue and jobs for the remote region.
“At last we did it, the willows have been cleared again, and we can almost literally feel Alaska’s bright future,” Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said in a statement. creating new jobs, billions of dollars in new revenue” and “improving the quality of life on the North Slope and across our state.”
But it comes as a blow to climate groups and Alaska Natives, who oppose Willow, arguing that the project will harm the president’s ambitious climate goals and pose health and environmental risks.
The project has inspired a rebellion of online activism against it, including a Change.org petition with over a million letters written to the White House in protest and millions of signatures.
Environmental advocates are expected to challenge the project in court. EarthJustice, an environmental law group, is preparing a case against the project and intends to argue the Biden administration’s right to protect resources on Alaska’s public lands, including reducing planet-warming carbon pollution. Taking steps, which the Willow Project will eventually add up to.
Abigail Dillon, president of EarthJustice, condemned the administration’s decision on Monday.
“We are too late in the climate crisis to approve massive oil and gas projects that directly undermine the new clean economy that the Biden administration is committed to pursuing,” Dillon said. “We know that President Biden understands the existential threat of climate, but he is approving a project that derails his own climate goals.”
Nevertheless, federal lawmakers in Alaska welcomed the decision, calling it a victory for the state.
“After consistent, steadfast support from people across the state and from every walk of life for this project, the Willow Project is finally moving forward,” said Democratic Representative Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native in Congress. “I want to thank the President and his administration for listening to the voice of Alaskans when it matters most.”
Alaska Native groups who wanted the project for jobs and revenue in the region also welcomed the decision.
Nagruk Harcharek, president of the advocacy group Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, said in a statement Monday that his group is urging President Joe Biden and his senior advisers to approve the project and “taking into account the wishes of Alaska Native communities.” was “grateful”. Willow Project.
“The Willow Project is a new opportunity to ensure a viable future for our communities, create generational economic stability for our people, and advance our self-determination,” Harcharek said.
In recent weeks, the Biden administration had looked to reduce the number of approved drilling pads to two and increase nature conservation measures to address climate and environmental groups’ concerns about the project. Reducing the drill pad to two would have allowed the company to drill about 70% of the oil they were initially seeking.
But ConocoPhillips and Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation for months aggressively lobbied the Biden White House and the Interior Department to approve three drilling pads, saying the project would not be economically viable with two.
The venture was eventually approved with three drilling pads. The administration felt it was legally constrained and had few options but to cancel or significantly scale back the project—which was initially approved by the Trump administration. The administration has determined that legally, the courts would not allow them to reject the project outright, two government sources familiar with the approval told CNN.
Sources said the final scope of the project will cover 68,000 fewer acres than ConocoPhillips’ initial one.
“This was the right decision for Alaska and for our country,” ConocoPhillips President and CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement. “Willow fits the Biden administration’s priorities on environmental and social justice, facilitating the energy transition and enhancing our energy security, all while creating good union jobs and providing benefits to Alaska Native communities.”
Biden also announced sweeping new protections for federal lands and waters in Alaska on Monday, along with the willow approval.
The White House on Monday closed limits on future oil and gas leasing of the entire US Arctic Ocean. The administration will also later announce new rules to protect more than 13 million acres from drilling in the federal National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
Overall, the administration will take steps to protect up to 16 million acres from future fossil fuel leasing.
Protection will extend to Tashcheapuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Piered Bay Special Areas – places that are important habitat for grizzly bears, polar bears, caribou and migratory birds.
On Sunday, an administration official said the administration views the new actions as a “firewall” against both future fossil fuel leasing and expansions of existing projects on the North Slope.
As he applauded the decision to approve the Willow project, Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan criticized the upcoming protective measures.
In a statement, Sullivan said, “The fact that this willow [approval] comes with an announcement of future legally questionable resource development restrictions on Alaska’s lands and waters demonstrates the seriousness of the Biden administration’s commitment to our state.” The unprecedented lock-up will continue.” ,
Sullivan told reporters on Monday that the Biden administration has assured him that existing lease rights in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska will not be affected by the new rules.
Environmental groups lashed out at the Biden administration for approving Willow, saying increased protections for other Arctic regions would not offset the damage the project would do.
Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of government affairs for the League of Conservation Voters, said the league is “extremely disappointed” in the decision, calling the project “dangerous” and “dirty”.
“This is in direct conflict with the Biden-Harris administration’s goals of halving climate pollution by 2030, and it is even more important now that they double down on executive action that will drive climate and conservation progress,” Sittenfeld said in a statement. maximizes.” “The new protections announced for the endangered Arctic are important, but they are not ready for Willow’s acceptance.”
Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, which advocates for stronger climate change policies, called the approval an “unacceptable departure from President Biden’s promises to the American people on climate and environmental justice.”
The Alaska Wilderness League, which works to protect Alaska’s natural areas from industry and fossil fuel drilling, said it was “deeply disappointed” in the approval.
“This is the wrong decision for our climate future, to protect biodiversity and to honor the frontline communities who have spoken out against this project,” said Kristen Miller, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, called the endorsements from Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland “disappointing.”
“The western Arctic is one of the last great wild landscapes on the planet,” Heinrich said in a statement. “Industrial development would not bode well in this untouched landscape.”